Ilala Weavers is situated at Hluhluwe within the province of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The organizations was established some 30 years ago, with a clear vision and objective of revitalizing and enhancing the age-old Zulu tradition of handcrafts, which at the time were in danger of being lost forever.

Fundacion Silataj works with 26 aboriginal communities from the Argentina provinces of Salta, Formosa, Jujuy and Catamarca. The remaining population of the Wichi ethnic group is sparsely distributed in communities in these provinces.

Women weave chaguar fiber dyed with roots, fruits or leaves. Men carve palo santo wood, utilizing dried branches or fallen trees that they collect in the forest. Most Wichi communities still subsist by fishing, hunting, and gathering.

Creative Alternatives trains individual artisans in Western Kenya in the art of making crafts from readily available and environmentally sound materials. Water hyacinth—a weed that is clogging Lake Victoria—, tin sheets of misprinted bottle caps, recycled wire, tin cans, and discarded phone cards, all find new lives as the artisans of Creative Alternatives create greeting cards, ornaments, jewelry, and functional products, which they sell to provide a sustainable livelihood for their families.

COMPARTE (Comercializadora de Productos Artesanales Exportables) is a non-profit organization that exports Chilean handicrafts around the world. As members of IFAT, Comparte’s mission is to improve the standard of living for owners and employees of Chilean handicraft workshops, by promoting and exporting various handmade products of the highest quality, while supporting these same artisans through technical and product development assistance programs.

CFM, Community Friendly Movement is a social enterprise based out of New Delhi, India whose mission is to create income for its primary stakeholders, artisan communities in rural India, by working directly with the community, reducing the number of levels in the chain, and increasing the sustainable income of the individual.

We met Eugene Jacques and Carlos Brutis in Croix des Bouquets, an area of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti known for artisans who make oil drum art. The constant hammering from the sheds in the area led us to beautiful metalwork, with each stop offering new designs.


Eugene’s shed was tucked behind several others and yielded unique three-dimensional masks with cogs and bicycle chains for earrings. Each piece is a work of art and signed with “Eugene”.

Founded in 1990 by a multinational group of young entrepreneurs, Caribbean Craft—formerly known as Drexco—promotes employment in Haiti by training unskilled - but often highly gifted - craftspeople, and by assisting the independent artisans through the introduction of new designs and new market outlets. Unemployment in Haiti, the poorest country of the American hemisphere, is variously estimated at between 60 and 80%.

Bridge of Hope ia a network made up of 14 community groups, churches and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who believe that, in this era of globalization, it is important to work on the international level as well as local to have a real impact on the policies which define the context within which poor and marginalized people live.



Bridge of Hope works to strengthen the capacities of local and participating institutions to work with base communities while respecting human dignity through exercising fair democratic business practices.

My name is Benedict Nkosinathi Ncube.I started doing craft wire work inthe year 2002.I was introducd into this industry by a friend,Mr Victor Chiteura.For almost a year ,he taught the basics of wire designing and beading.After learning all the basics of wire art,I tried to be independent.(i.e .producing my own products for sale at the local markets where I had to compete with well established artists).Even though it wasn,t easy i kept on trying to perfect every product I produced to improve on quality,thus when I met one the most creative wire craft designers,Raymond Khama and Andrew Dambul

APTEC PERU is an organization of producer artisans that offers a variety of handmade products made from many materials including clay and gourds.
Learning the art of craftmaking from their parents, the artisans worked for many years for companies but now design and create the products themselves.